Finder Freezing When Editing Files on Network Drives

Issue/Question

When I try to interact (open/copy/move/edit/save/etc) with a file on a WKU network drive (Personal, Shared, Secure), a Finder window displays something similar to

Preparing to copy file

The window will not progress nor cancel and I have to restart for it to go away.

Environment

  • macOS
    • Files on a network drive, such as the P:\ or S:\. 

Cause

macOS, by default, creates metadata files on network drives intended to browse folders quicker but can cause Finder to become unresponsive on enterprise-level network drives, such as WKU's.

Resolution